The 18th Annual National Black Pre-Law Conference Sponsored by LSAC

Welcome to The 18th Annual National Black Pre-Law Conference and Law Fair 2022 Sponsored by The Law School Admission Council (LSAT) - the nation's premier information-sharing and networking empowerment event for aspiring Black lawyers!

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE

Founded in 2005 by Evangeline M. Mitchell, a graduate of HBCU Prairie View A&M University, the University of Iowa College of Law, and the Harvard University Graduate School of Education.

QUICK FACTS 

From 2005 until 2021, the National Black Pre-Law Conference and Law Fair has:

Featured 74 keynote speakers, 182 special guest/guest speakers, and over 902 community leaders, law students, lawyers, law school administrators, and judges who have served as featured panelists, moderators, workshop presenters, advisors, mentors, and small group discussion leaders.

 Registered approx. 10,000+ registrants nationwide.

 Approx. 200 law schools attended to recruit potential law students.

 Hosted 350+ mock law school classes, workshops, panels, clinics, and other sessions.

Garnered the support of numerous elected officials and bar leaders.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

The National Black Pre-Law Conference provides an unparalleled opportunity to learn more about: 

* the current statistics regarding African American law school applicants and law students

* how to effectively navigate the law school admissions process

* how to prepare to become more excellent, competitive, and strategic applicants with regards to the overall package

* how to properly prepare for the Law School Admission Test (LSAT)

* issues involving affirmative action and the role of diversity in the law school admissions process

* how to choose the right law school for you

* what various law schools across the country have to offer

* how the financial aid process works, how schools select recipients of scholarships and fellowships, loan repayment assistance programs, managing law school debt, and relevant financial concerns during the current economic downturn

* what is the value of the J.D.

* what is the law student learning experience like (through a mock law school class with an assignment to read and brief a case to prepare for the Socratic method of class discussion)

* how to make the most of the law school experience

* how to make your diversity (racial, socioeconomic, educational, cultural, experience, intersections, etc.) work for you by contributing to the law school inside and outside of the classroom

* what minority law school preparatory programs are available

* what academic support is available to law students

* what the unique challenges are that African Americans in particular face in law school admission, law school, and in the legal work environment, and coping mechanisms to overcome microaggressions, and other people's prejudices and misperceptions

* how to project a professional business image

* how to approach the job search and interviewing process, and what legal employers are really looking for

* what the bar exam is and what it takes to pass the bar exam

* what career options are available, and how to create your own opportunities

* how to network effectively and seek out mentors

* keys to career advancement

EVENT FEATURES

This Year's Event Will Feature the Following Benefits:

* Pre-Event Orientation on "How to Maximize the National Black Pre-Law Conference Experience"

* Conference Strategy Booklet and Sponsorship Guidance Booklet

* Meet-Ups to Connect with Fellow Attendees and Speakers

* Major Keynote Speakers, Special Guest Speakers, and Guest Speakers and Organization Leaders

* Mock Law School Class

* Workshops and Master Classes

* Panel Discussions

* In-Person Law School Recruitment Fair (Featuring Law Schools From Across the Country) with Live Q&A, and Chat Opportunities During Special Dedicated Time Block

* Closing Plenary Session and Aspiring Lawyers Pinning Ceremony - Reading of the Aspiring Lawyers Success Pledge and Words of Inspiration

* Interactive Networking and Connection-Making Opportunities

* Chances to Win Prizes!

We have brought together incredible speakers, presenters, panelists, moderators, and facilitators from all over the country, and curated some amazing content, especially for our aspiring lawyers. We have also planned wonderful interactive virtual advisement sessions, networking, and community-building activities and opportunities!

Take advantage of this unparalleled conference experience where our goal is to encourage and empower you with the information, resources, and connections you need to become the most excellent, competitive, and strategic law school applicant, law student, and lawyer possible. 

Please don't miss out on this amazing virtual and in-person opportunity to gain information, resources, and connections - wherever you are!

http://www.blackprelawconference.org | #blackprelawconference

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Click here for our most updated event schedule - https://docs.google.com/document/d/11p-AyQIxeEPMORbV0geJqyfz94KEiseb_GE3LxhH7Cw/edit?usp=sharing

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10TH, 2022

9:00 A.M. - 6:00 P.M.

BOSTON LAW SCHOOL TOURS

Start at Boston College Law School, then visit Northeastern University School of Law, Suffolk University Law School, Boston University School of Law, and New England Law | Boston

12:30 P.M. - 2:30 P.M.

BOSTON BLACK HERITAGE TRAIL

Group Self-Guided Walking Tour – The Black Heritage Trail® Map Provided/Audio Available for Download

The Black Heritage Trail® explores the history of the 19th-century African American community in Boston.

The Conference will provide a guide to lead this tour.

Group should meet in front of the Robert Gould Shaw and 54th Regiment Memorial; Beacon and Park Streets, Boston Common, Boston, MA

Points on the Tour Include: Robert Gould Shaw and 54th Regiment Memorial; George Middleton House; The Phillips School; John J. Smith House; Charles Street Meeting House; Lewis and Harriet Hayden House; John Coburn House; Smith Court Residences; Abiel Smith School, Museum of African American History; The African Meeting House, Museum of African American History

7:30 P.M. - 9:30 P.M.

OPENING KEYNOTE SESSION & WELCOME CEREMONY

Keynote Speaker

Sherri Ann Charleston, J.D., Ph.D.

Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer

Harvard University

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Keynote Speaker

Lonita K. Baker, Esq., M.B.A.

President

National Bar Association

Louisville, Kentucky

Keynote Speech and Q&A Session

Featuring

George Clayton Fatheree, III, Esq.

Partner, Sidley Austin LLP

Los Angeles, California

Attorney Fatheree’s leadership and advocacy in the Bruce’s Beach case led to the first land reparations case in favor of African Americans in United States history

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11TH, 2022

10:00 A.M. - 11:00 A.M.

HARVARD LAW SCHOOL TOUR

Student ambassadors provide a tour of Harvard Law School for conference attendees

11:30 A.M. - 12:30 P.M.

FOCUS: THE CASE METHOD AND THE SOCRATIC METHOD

The Law School Classroom Experience - Mock Law School ClassTaught By Harvard Law School Professor

Ronald S. Sullivan Jr., Esq., Jesse Climenko Clinical Professor of Law and Director, Criminal Justice Institute, Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Case reading will be provided two weeks in advance. Please come prepared. You may be called on by the law professor.

2:00 P.M. - 4:00 P.M.

HARVARD AND THE LEGACY OF SLAVERY WALKING TOUR

Group Self-Guided Walking Tour

The Conference will provide a guide to lead this tour.

Meet in Radcliffe Yard

Tour Stops Include: Radcliffe Yard; Christ Church; The Old Burying Ground; The Hutchins Center for African & African Research; Wadsworth House; Widener Memorial Library; Memorial Hall; Museum of Comparative Zoology; Harvard Law School; Cambridge Common

7:30 P.M. - 9:30 P.M.

FRIDAY EVENING KEYNOTE SESSION

Keynote Speaker

Bryan Fair, Esq.

Thomas E. Skinner Professor of Law

University of Alabama School of Law

Tuscaloosa, Alabama

D. Wendy Greene, J.D.., LL.M.

Director, Center for Law, Policy and Social Action

Professor of Law

Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12TH, 2022

9:00 A.M. - 10:00 A.M.

Registration and Continental Breakfast

10:00 A.M. - 11:30 A.M.

OPENING KEYNOTE POWER SESSION

Keynote Speaker

Bruce Jackson, Esq.

Associate General Counsel and Managing Director, Strategic Partnership

Microsoft

New York, New York

Author of Never Far From Home: My Journey from Brooklyn to Hip Hop, Microsoft, and the Law

Keynote Speaker

T. Anansi Wilson, J.D., Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Law

Founding Director, Center for the Study of Black Life and the Law

Mitchell Hamline School of Law

Saint Paul, Minnesota

11:45 P.M. - 12:45 P.M.

LSAC Session - About the LSAT Presented by The Law School Admission Council (LSAC)

12:45 P.M. - 1:45 P.M.

LUNCH BREAK - On Your Own

2:00 P.M. - 3:15 P.M.

FOCUS: LAW SCHOOL ADMISSIONS PANEL DISCUSSION

Are We Nearing the End of Affirmative Action?: What’s Next If The Current U.S. Supreme Court Decides Against Race-Conscious Admission Policies in the Harvard and University of North Carolina Cases

Description: Panelists will engage in thoughtful conversation around the current legal precedents of Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978), Grutter v. Bollinger (2003), and Fisher v. University of Texas (2016) and the Harvard and UNC’s compelling interest to pursue the benefits of diversity within the student body and the now legal consideration of race as one factor among many in a narrowly tailored admissions process.

If the conservative supermajority now sitting on the Supreme Court decides against affirmative action, what does this mean for racial/ethnic diversity in college admissions across the country? Will over 40 years of progress be set back? What can universities do to achieve racial diversity if race consideration is outlawed especially when there is still much progress that remains to be made? What does this mean for Black law school applicants?

Join this session as we consider the future of race-based affirmative action and how Black students can ensure their continued acceptance and presence at competitive law schools moving forward if these important legal precedents are overturned.

3:30 P.M. - 4:45 P.M.

FOCUS: THE BLACK LAW STUDENT EXPERIENCE

Screening of Multiple Award-Winning Documentary Short Becoming Black Lawyers Executive Produced and Directed by Evangeline M. Mitchell, Esq., Ed.M.

SPECIAL EXCLUSIVE! Question and Answer Session with the Filmmaker and Cast of Becoming Black Lawyers

Featuring Cast Members:

Veronica N. Dunlap, Esq., M.B.A., New York Program Director, ProBonoNet (New York, New York)

Paula Edgar, Esq., CEO, PGE Consulting Group LLC (New York, New York)

Marcus Sandifer, Esq., M.A., General Counsel, Celsius Inc. (Boca Raton, Florida)

Alexi Thomas, Esq., M.B.A., Vice President, Legal and Compliance, Evercore (New York, New York)

5:00 P.M. - 6:00 P.M.

CLOSING PLENARY SESSION AND ASPIRING LAWYERS PINNING CEREMONY

Keynote Speaker

TBD

Recitation of Aspiring Lawyers Success Pledge + Pinning of Eagle Pendants on Aspiring Lawyers by Current Lawyers and Judges

6:00 P.M. - 8:00 P.M.

IN-PERSON LAW SCHOOL RECRUITMENT FAIR

Meet with recruiters from law schools across the country